1897 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
347 
Plants for Carpet Bedding. 
A. K. P., Passaic County, iV. —What plants 
can I use in formal geometrical bedding, such as 
is seen in some of the parks ? Most of the plants 
used have very thick, fleshy leaves. 
Ans —The plants commonly used for 
this purpose are succulents, such as Coty¬ 
ledons (commonly called Echeverias), 
Sempervivums or houseleeks, and Me- 
sembryanthemums. We don’t recom¬ 
mend A. K. P. to do much in geometrical 
bedding ; much of it is tasteless and ugly 
and does not harmonize with a home gar¬ 
den. We still see a good deal of it in 
some parks, because it is popular with a 
great many people, and much of this is 
extremely ugly, being the representa¬ 
tion in plants, of natural or mechanical 
objects, such as persons, animals, houses, 
boats, hearth rugs, etc. Such erections 
are expensive to keep in order, because 
any plant that presumes to grow larger 
than its neighbors must be repressed, 
and constant care is needed to keep the 
outlines from becoming blurred. 
For ordinary bedding, we would ad¬ 
vise A. K. P. to avoid the carpet style, 
but if he has some sunny, dry exposure, 
with sandy soil, he could give a good 
effect with a bed of succulents, not 
strictly arranged in carpet style. Aloes 
or tall cacti might occupy the center of 
the bed, with such cotyledons as Metal- 
lica, with pinkish bronze leaves, and 
Secunda glauca, silvery bluish gray. 
Among Sempervivums, the common 
houseleek, S. tectorum, is attractive, 
with its neat rosette shape, and the 
little S. arachnoides, with tiny filaments 
extending from tip to tip of the leaves, 
like spider webs, is odd and pretty. 
The little ice plant, Mesembryanthemum 
crystallinum, would look well trailing 
at the edges. These succulents make 
an attractive and uncommon bed, and 
are, also, good house plants. Though 
they are chiefly grown for their foliage, 
the cotyledon flowers are very pretty, 
suggestive of coral or wax. 
Black-Spot on Outdoor Roses. 
R. N. G., Coweta County, Ga.—l have about 50 
rose bushes in my garden, one to three years old, 
and they are affected with a kind of blight that 
bids fair to ruin them sooner or later unless 
something be done. The foliage only seems to 
be affected, and in this way: Black spots first 
appear, gradually covering the entire leaf; then 
the leaf turns yellow and drops off. The soil is 
common garden loam with clay subsoil, and the 
drainage is fairly good. 
Ans.—T he roses are, evidently, suffer¬ 
ing from the fungous disease known as 
black-spot. It is characterized by the 
appearance of irregular black spots on 
the upper surface of the leaves, which 
gradually increase in size, the leaf 
finally turning yellow and falling. It 
can be controlled by the fungicides con¬ 
taining copper, as Bordeaux Mixture, 
treatment being begun early in the 
spring. Affected leaves should be 
plucked off and burned, and all fallen 
leaves should be destroyed in the same 
way. This disease is, at times, very 
destructive to roses under glass, the 
American Beauty and La France espec¬ 
ially suffering from it. 
MOTHERS. —Be sure to use “Mrs. Wins¬ 
low’s Soothing Syrup ” for your children 
while Teething. It is the Best.— Adv. 
Bedding still goes on. Window boxes 
and hanging baskets are set out; the 
latter should be kept in a sheltered 
place for a few days after planting, 
until the plants get over the shock 
caused by their change, or they may 
wilt somewhat when hung up and first 
exposed to the drying air. We should 
not advise daily watering of the beds 
yet. Keep the surface free from weeds, 
and conserve moisture by a dust mulch. 
When the cannas have taken hold and 
are growing freely, they need liberal 
treatment; they appreciate plenty of 
food and water. We do not mean, how¬ 
ever, that the earth in which they are 
growing must be kept wet and muddy. 
Some of the finest cannas we have ever 
seen were growing in a light, sandy 
soil with free drainage ; the soil had 
been well worked and enriched and, 
around each plant, was a mulch of well- 
rotted manure. When watered, instead 
of the general surface of the bed being 
moistened all over, without particular 
care for the plants, each particular root 
received a good soaking, poured over the 
mulch, thus leaching the fertilizing 
material. Never mound up the surface 
of a canna bed. One would imagine this 
advice needless, were it not for the many 
mounded beds one sees in amateurs’ 
gardens. They are always ugly, dif¬ 
ficult to keep in order, and they dry out 
badlj. Where there is a very stiff sub¬ 
soil, the mounded bed may be of advan¬ 
tage during an extremely wet summer, 
but we do not expect this as a rule. 
Where a brilliantly colored dwarf bor¬ 
dering plant is required, an excellent 
effect is produced by the cockscomb, 
President Thiers. This is the dwarfest 
of all cuckscombs, average height being 
from four to six inches ; its bloom is an 
immense solid comb of rich crimson. It 
is very freely used in parks and public 
gardens, where its invariably neat habit 
and showy bloom make it very useful. 
An exceedingly showy effect is produced 
in a formal bed by combining it with the 
Golden feverfew. It also makes a good 
edging for a bed of coleus. The coleus, 
Golden Bedder, still the best general- 
purpose yellow, is very handsome con¬ 
trasted with this cockscomb, or it may 
edge a mixed bed of Golden Bedder and 
the old crimson coleus, Verschaffeltii. 
Some of the mixed cockscombs, white, 
piak, and golden yellow, solid or striped, 
are really pretty, and those with feath¬ 
ered flowers are really more graceful 
than the solid combs, but the latter 
makes the best edging nlant. 
The metallic-hued foliage plant, Stro- 
bilanthes Dyerianus, which has not yet 
been supplied with a generally accepted 
common name, will make an attractive 
appearance in a sunny place, where its 
brilliant mingling of purple and green 
becomes intensified. In a shady situa¬ 
tion, it seems to become duller in tint. 
It should be bordered with a plant 
having lighter foliage, such as Golden 
feverfew or one of the variegated 
geraniums. 
Among the bedding plants that, under 
ordinary circumstances, should be 
planted out by May 20, are carnations, 
pyrethrums, asters, phlox, verbenas, 
and in fact anything that will not be in¬ 
jured by a slight frost, should it occur. 
Caladiums, coleus, alternantheras, be¬ 
gonias and other plants, which will 
suffer from even a slight frost, must not 
be put out until J une 1. It may be well 
to say a few words here about planting. 
The usual way is to make a hole with 
the trowel, put the plant in, smooth the 
soil, and then water the bed m the ex¬ 
pectation of soaking the roots. This is 
not very easy, for it is difficult to moisten 
the close ball of roots produced in a 
pot, and the surface of the bed may be 
badly washed out without the roots 
being fully wetted. Then, if the day is 
sunny, the surface of the soil will at 
once bake hard, and the last state of 
that bed is worse than the first. The 
right way is to put the plant in firmly, 
without filling in all the soil, then water 
each individual plant, and after the 
water has soaked down fill in the de¬ 
pression with the dry earth. The dry 
earth mulch covering the wet soil around 
the roots is worth far more than a 
copious surface watering. Every farmer 
knows the value of surface cultivation 
during a dry season, and the same prin¬ 
ciple holds good in the flower garden. 
If arranging a subtropical bed of 
shewy foliage plants, the big green¬ 
leaved Elephant’s-ear Caladium is sure 
to be included. For a taller center 
plant, one of the tall-growing cannas, 
such as J. D Cabos, may be advised, or 
a castor bean (the variety Cambodgensis, 
much darker than the ordinary type, is 
very effective) The stately Variegated 
reed (Arundo donax variegata), is even 
more effective than the foregoing, and 
quite uncommon in amateurs’ gardens. 
Next to the caladiums a row of dark 
coleus, acalyphas, or strobilanthes, with 
an edging of gray-leaved Santolina or 
Golden feverfew, will finish the bed. 
Good merchants find out 
that it pays to sell Macbeth 
lamp-chimneys because they 
make friends. 
But look out for the one 
that is made for your lamp. 
Let us send you the Index. 
Geo A Macbeth Co 
Pittsburgh Pa 
•V- VICTORIES. 
FOUR MEDALS—3 Gold and 1 Silver, World’s Centennial 
Cotton Exposition, New Orleans, 1884. 
( HIGHEST AWARDS—Nebraska Agricultural Fair, 1887. 
'Mt) DIPLOMA—Alabama Agr’l Society, Montgomery, 
I AWARD—Chattahoochie Valley Exposition, Colum- 
bu s, Ga., 1888. _ 
HIGHEST AWARDS—St. Louis Agricultural and 
Me chanical Association. 1889. _ 
GOLD MEDALS and 6 DIPLOMAS—World’s Colum¬ 
bian Exp osition. Chica go, 1893. 
HIGHEST AWARDS—Western Fair Association, Lon¬ 
don, Canada, 1893. 
[ SIX GOLD MEDALS an d D i plomas—California Midw inter Fair ’94 
SILVER MEDAL—Industrial Exposition, Toronto, Canada, 1895. 
1 345,584 Koine Comfort Ranges Sold Co Jan. 
C ST’Range illustrated sold throughout the United States and 
i the Canadas at a uni form price from our ow n wagons. 
Made of open hearth, cold rolled steel-plate and malleable 
I iron —will last a life-time with ordinary care. 
WROUGHT IRON RANGE GO., 
Founded 1864. Paid-up Capital $1,000,000. 
Factories, Salesrooms and Offices: ST. I.OUIS, MO., and TORONTO, CANADA. 
Western Salesrooms and offices: DENVER COLO. 
IT^-We manufacture and carry a complete stock of Hotel Ranges and Kitchen goods, also the 
unequaled HOME COMFORT STEEL FURNACES. Write for catalogue and prices. 
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Symptoms 
of heart dis a 
ease are eas- 
i 1 y recog- 
nized. If 
short of breath, or have 
pain in left side, palpi¬ 
tation, fluttering, irreg¬ 
ular pulse, etc., you 
have heart trouble and 
should not neglect it. 
Write for Free Book 
on diseases of the heart and nerves. 
Dr. Miles’ Remedies are sold by 
all druggists on the guarantee first 
bottle benefits or money refunded. 
Dr. Miles Medical Co., Elkhart, Ind. 
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Who 
opened that 
bottle of 
HIRES 
Rootbeer? 
The popping of a 
cork from a bottle of 
Hires is a signal of 
good health and plea¬ 
sure. A sound the 
old folks like to hear 
—the children can’t 
resist it. 
HIRES 
Rootbeer 
Is composed of the 
very Ingredients the 
system requires. Aiding 
the digestion, soothing 
the nerves, purifying 
the blood. A temper¬ 
ance drink for temper¬ 
ance people. 
Made only by 
The Charles E. Hires Co., Philo, 
A package makes 5 gallons. 
Sold everywhere. 
'M 
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All About ^ 
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That’s the name u 
of our booklet. Tells 
why niost sewing ^ 
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that makes the 
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315 TV. St., Peoria, III. 
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